Happy early Turkey Day. Even though the football games tomorrow look horrible, I'm still stoked to stuff my face and get a few days off. We've got a few good links so enjoy while you coast through work today. JT Buckets had 32 on his birthday, so nice work son.

Demon Deacons outrun intra-city foe Winston-Salem State | outrun, city, salem - Sports - Burlington Times News
"This is the last year we’re going to play them and we’re trying to send them out," Smith said.

Change is always good? Part 2, Jeff Teague's minutes - Peachtree Hoops
Jeff Teague has not been good this year. The likelihood of him being good this season was always low. Rookie point guards drafted outside the lottery rarely contribute at a high level in their first year. Still, it is not that Teague has shown no signs of life. He has been an annoyance with on the ball defense outside the three point line, can get into the lane at will, and is at least average at finding teammates off that penetration. Teague's downfall has been his inability to hit open shots, failure to adjust to athletic shot blockers, and cheap/bad fouls after getting beat on defense. Basically his down fall has been being a rookie.

Q. & A. With Jack Swarbrick - The Quad Blog - NYTimes.com
Two of my old contemporaries, who came through more traditional sports channels in Bob Bowlsby and Ron Wellman. Guys that I think are among the very best in our business. The basics of the business are still reflected in the way that those guys ran it.

Seniors Have Final Shot to Defeat Wake Forest - Duke University Blue Devils | Official Athletics Site - GoDuke.com
"We are just two similar teams," Leon Wright said. "Both coming from smaller private schools, similar athletes... It is very even and that is how it plays out."

Gonzaga dominates Wisconsin, advances to Maui finals - The Slipper Still Fits -Keeping an eye on our future opponent...
We mentioned in our game preview that Gonzaga might really benefit from their tight contest with Colorado yesterday. After sleepwalking through the first twenty minutes of play a day ago, the Zags played a great second half to squash the Buffaloes upset bid. Tonight, the Zags were able to carry that momentum over and delivered a rousing performance in Maui against the Badgers of Wisconsin.

Lions put pieces together during 4th-quarter surge - CharlotteObserver.com
The Lions (2-0) ran whenever possible and put four players in double figures, led by guard J.T. Terrell with 32 points. "One of our ultimate goals is to run and try to get them tired and going at our pace," he said. "That was the strategy we used. That's how we like to play."

Deacs' secondary of concern to Grobe
So now that Bush is under medical care, Grobe's concern is how to cobble together a secondary capable of controlling Thaddeus Lewis, Duke's senior quarterback who, along with Wake Forest's Riley Skinner, is one of only three ACC quarterbacks to pass for at least 2,000 yards four straight seasons. The first to accomplish the feat was Philip Rivers, N.C. State's quarterback from 2000 through 2003. "You really don't want to have injuries anywhere on defense when you've got to go against Thad Lewis and this offense," Grobe said. "They're pretty special."

Deacs take finale
"It's funny because it's kind of new now," Smith said. "I did it my freshman year and as a sophomore I did it. My junior year you kind of forget when you're not in that position. I kind of played more of a reserve role, more of the sparkplug last year. "But now this year I had to get adjusted to it." But if the critics were hard on him, he never knew it. He maintains he's played far too much college basketball to worry about what people are saying about him. "One thing I had to learn when I was young was I used to listen to that and let it get to me," Smith said. "Now that's not the case anymore. I think I'm kind of the old guy now. I just relax and just play and do something I've been doing since I was young...."

Demon Deacons hope for something good to end on
The victory totals have declined in each year since the 11-win season and that means the senior class will go out without a bowl invitation after three consecutive years in the postseason. "It would seem that way," Russell said Tuesday when asked if he sensed a downward spiral. "… But I think we’ve built something here. I think there’s a lot of young guys in the program who want to get back to that level."

Wake Forest dominates cross-town rival Winston-Salem again
Wake Forest's top four scorers combined to outscore Winston-Salem, leading the Demon Deacons to an easy 76-52 victory over the Rams at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Tuesday.

Wake Forest too strong for WSSU
"They were just coming out from all over the place," Alcius said about the Deacons frontcourt players of David Weaver, Chas McFarland and Tony Woods. "I got by one of them, then there's another one right there and then there's another big guy on the back side so I had no where to go. They were blocking a lot of shots."